ILNA reports that Mohammad Hossein Dajmer told a press conference that the Iranian shipping industry has gone from generating two billion dollars in revenue to less than one billion dollars.

He explained that sanctions on Iran have stifled Iran's industry, so that it now accounts for just 10 percent of shipping activities in the region.

Dajmer added that Western countries do not allow the passage of ships that sail under the Iranian flag.

"Currently European countries prohibit Iranian ships from docking in their ports," Dajmer went on to say; "Only countries like India and China, which continue trade relations with Iran, allow Iranian ships to dock."

Europe and the United States have imposed widespread sanctions on Iran's shipping industry as well as its financial and oil sector in a bid to make Iranian authorities comply with their demands regarding acceptable nuclear activities in Iran.